Marvel's Dazel
by TokuBrony94
Summary: In the city of New York, a very peculiar girl has been living among it as its protector, unknown to their awareness until now. Her name is Rio, a Feralian who acts very much like an animal despite her human appearance. She's afraid of humans because of an incident that happened, but spending time with the Norse God of Thunder, Thor, and his friends might change her views about it.
1. Chapter 1

**TB: What's this? Another Marvel story starting?**

 **KKD: Uh… yea. Not surprising by now, dude.**

 **TB: But this** _ **will**_ **. This story will be uploaded alongside our other Marvel story, Senryu. Consider this a double feature.**

 **KKD: Wha~?! *paper airplane floats in***

 **TB: Hmm? Paper airplane means one thing.**

 **KKD: Pika. *Takes paper airplane and opens it to reveal a note* "Don't know much about Marvel, but this is my idea. So, if you want to do anything major, you tell me first."**

 **TB: Well, it was a good thing he supports the changes we decided to give his character. I just think the story would be more effective that way. So ready to get started, KKD?**

 **KKD: Yea, I think so.**

 **TB: Then cue Disclaimers.**

 **DISCLAIMERS: No one owns anything here related to Marvel or it's superheroes, except for the original characters and concepts within. The rest belong to Marvel, Disney, etc.**

* * *

Somewhere in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean during a nighttime thunderstorm, a ship was cruising along the ocean waves. However, as the ship was sailing along, struggling against the waves, something hit the ship on the side causing the ship to rock violently and causing many crew members to lose balance, one almost falling overboard.

"This is Nodalis! Come in, come in! We're being attacked off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands! The fog is so thick out here, we can't see any lights! The waves are crashing around us and-" the captain shouted, when ocean waves splashed into the control room, damaging the communication machines.

The captain was lucky to get out of there in time. He then rushed to the wheel of the vessel, when he noticed something off the starboard bow, a glittering purple light. He then decided to steer his ship towards the light, the light moving in different directions as if to lead it. This was strange to him, but he struggled to steer the ship after it, before the light stopped at a dock near an ocean. As soon as the boat stopped, the light disappeared almost as mysteriously as it appeared in the first place.

* * *

 **Studio Brony and KKD Studios present**

 **In Collaboration with Pikatwig Entertainment**

 **Marvel's**

 **Dazel**

* * *

The crew of the ship soon disembarked, the thunderstorm still going strong as they got on the dock and tied the ship down, and went into a nearby office.

"We made it to New York without a hitch… but… what was that light all about?" the captain wondered.

The crew just wondered about this, not noticing something… or rather, somebody fly above them and away from them. This figure flew away from the small office before we see a figure in a green outfit that was accented in gold while wearing a large gold helmet with horns like a ram over his long black wavy hair. This figure looked towards the shadow flying off in the rain from the rooftop of a nearby building.

"So… we have ourselves a new visitor," the figure in green and gold smiled, his voice sounding very calm yet suave and sinister, "I think it's time we give her a traditional welcome. Don't you think?"

As he said this, a taller figure approached this man, who looked to be a humanoid bipedal wolf with grey fur and yellow feral eyes. This wolf smirked in response to what the man in gold and green said, before they walked off into the shadows, disappearing in a blue light.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the Helicarrier, we see a man in black looking over some footage of the ship rescue that occurred before looking at the light that shown the way.

"Stop the footage," he ordered, the footage freezing before he looked at the light, "Zoom in on that light…"

The people did just that, and it was slightly blurred due to the light, but a figure could be made out through the light.

"Dim the footage a bit, maybe we can see the source," the man ordered as the image was dimmed until the image of a young girl could be seen connected to the wings. This girl was shown with rather long black hair that stopped in the middle of her back, teal eyes and was wearing a short sleeved violet, black and blue latex jacket over a white shirt, a leopard skin skirt that stopped at her knees, a snakeskin belt above said skirt, a violet scarf around her neck with the images of a snake, a rabbit, an elephant, a unicorn, a bat and cat on it, violet nail polish on her fingers and toes, and was barefoot with an ankle bracelet on the left leg and an amethyst toe ring on her right middle toe.

"This person?" one of the men observing the footage commented, as he thought for a moment, "So it's the same person who's been secretly helping New York the past five days?"

"That's my guess," the man in black figured, "...Get in contact with Thor. He might be able to talk with her and get some answers."

As if on cue, a flash of lightning burst through the ceiling, and from the lightning came a man with long blonde hair, a goatee, brown eyes, and wearing metallic blue armor with silver sleeves, six circular plates from his chest to his waist, a long red cape hanging from his shoulders on his back and a silver square hammer with a wrist wrap that was attached to the side of his waist almost magnetically.

"You called for me Fury?" the man inquired of Fury.

"Yes, Thor. I did. Some of our agents have picked up traces of this young girl right here. Apparently, she's been helping New York with some of their issues for some time now. I would like you to go investigate and see if you can find out more about her."

"Consider it done," Thor answered before he walked out of the office, Fury looking at the image of the girl yet again in an inquisitive manner.

* * *

That night, the girl in question was running and jumping on her hands and feet across the rooftops at night, performing the occasional parkour move as she ran along the walls. She then stopped to notice a nearby street in which one car was being chased by a cop car. She looked a bit nervous at it before the cat image on her scarf lit up, and then suddenly cat ears popped out from the top of her head, her vision suddenly zooming in, tracking the potential paths of the cars before her cat ears disappeared and she bonded off across the roofs once more. She eventually found one of the paths and decided to drop down in an alley, the elephant image on her scarf glowing as the skin on her arms turned gray and a bit wrinkly, but then she went to a street lamp, noticed the cars coming her way and decided to knock it down, causing it to crash into the runaway car's front windshield, stopping it. She then retreated to the shadows of the alley before the cops could find her, but they did manage to get the guy out of his car to arrest him.

With that done, she ran like an animal, jumping off walls before getting to Central Park, swinging from trees, and then stopping in front of one particular tree that had some small hut in it that was built to be disguised by the leaves of the tree. The girl looked up before deciding to climb up the tree like a monkey and jumped into the hut/fort. She then noticed a small matchbook on the floor, which she picked up, plucked a match out, and decided to light it up. She then put the match over to a lantern on a nearby shelf, causing the lantern to light the small space as she extinguished the match. The interior of her supposed home contained a mirror, a desk and a small bed with a tethered blanket on it. Seeing she was alone, she decided to go up to her mirror and began to make silly faces before hiding under the table and began to poke her head up above so that only half her head showed before zipping straight back down. It was as if she was playing peek-a-boo with her reflection, giggling while she was doing it. She continued to do this for about three more minutes before she started yawning. She then sprawled over to her bed, walking in circles on it before laying down to nod off.

* * *

Thor returned to the Helicarrier, and entered Fury's office.

"Fury. I'm sorry to say this, but I could not find this girl you speak of anywhere in New York," he sighed, "I've searched everywhere throughout the city, and I could not find her no matter where I looked."

"Where can a girl like her be hiding in a big city like this? She has got to be somewhere," Fury responded, thinking a bit before he got up, "Thor, I want you to take another sweep through the city to find her. This time though, I suggest you look for her through the Eye of Asgard. We need to be covert about this as possible."

"Understood. I will head to Asgard now."

With that, Thor went off to return to Asgard via lightning teleportation with his hammer.

* * *

The next day, we then see the girl up on another rooftop over a food stand. She was feeling pretty hungry as she held her hand over her stomach before sniffing around trying to find something to eat. As soon as the man running the food stand left, she crawled down to the stand and grabbed a little bag of potato chips and a bottle of Pepsi before the guy came back and she quickly climbed back up the rooftop. She sighed with relief before she sat down and decided to eat.

She opened up the bag of chips, and sniffed it a bit before she looked in to see the chips, and then plucked one out. She looked at the chip curiously for a moment, took a better sniff, and then she put it in her mouth, initially reacting with wide eyes and a smile to the saltiness before she started eating the chips by tipping the bottom of the bag upwards, pouring them into her mouth.

She finished eating the chips before she picked up the Pepsi bottle, turning it with curiosity to get a better look at it. She soon noticed the tab on top before she tried turning it, but it didn't seem to open. She struggled with it before she pulled it with her teeth, but that didn't seem to work either. She groaned for a moment before she tried opening it as hard as she could, the soda spraying bubbles and suds into her face, making her fall on her back in response. After the spray ended, she wiped her face clean before looking into the bottle and took a sip. Her eyes widened before she spat out the soda, her mouth feeling spiked by the caffeinated taste. After that, she drank what was left and tossed the bottle away before lying down on her back to look up at the clouds.

She was about to fall asleep, keeping a sharp ear open before a large boom was heard, getting her to turn over her hands and feet and try to search for where it came from. She then sprawled on all fours, leaping around before she landed in an alley. She continued to crawl forward before smelling the air to locate the source, but an odd scent caused her to lower herself in defense and start growling, like a dog protecting itself. She then turned around to notice the bipedal wolf who noticed her before, growling at his sudden appearance.

"Hello, Rio," the wolf first said in a growling voice that sounded majestic yet terrifying, "Long time no see."

Confused, the girl, Rio, crouched up and moved her hands as if conveying some sort of sign language to the wolf.

"How did I escape the island? Well, it wasn't easy. I would answer, but why would I spoil the mystery?" the wolf replied, chuckling rather evilly, Rio signing another phrase, "I'll tell you why I'm here. You see, Rio, I'm here because I wanted to lure you. Like a little kitten drawn to a light, a moth to flame, you followed my bait. And now, I'm going to have fun tearing you apart."

Rio just growled as she leapt at the wolf, the latter grabbing her as she grabbed him. Rio then tried to get a better grip on him while grappling him before the wolf and her started exchanging punches, the two either dodging the blows or hitting their own fists before the wolf pushed Rio off. She panted before the unicorn on her scarf glowed, causing her to grow a unicorn horn, tail and horse ears. She then charged blue energy in her hands before firing blasts of the same energy at the wolf, managing to hurt him a little and knock him down. The wolf then growled at her before howling at Rio, causing her to cover her ears before the wolf tackled her to the ground like a football player. The two began to claw at each other, trying to bite each other before Rio kicked him over and she got back into her defensive position.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Asgard, Thor looked through some sort of red cube shaped gem that sort of acted as his telescope into New York. He then looked until he found Rio fighting the wolf.

"I finally found her," Thor declared before he decided to return to Earth.

* * *

Rio and the wolf continued fighting before the wolf managed to throw her out of the alley and into Times Square, making her almost hit a car, and skid across the concrete. The wolf ran out as well, the people running away from him as Rio got back up on all fours and stared him down.

"Well, it seems you haven't changed at all, Rio. But… my work here is done," the wolf panted, Rio tilting her head in confusion before crouching back up and signing 'What are you talking about? Why not finish it?', "Haven't you noticed yet? Look around you."

Rio looked around seeing a crowd of people around her, looking shocked and confused about the sudden appearance of her and the humanoid wolf. Her eyes widened in shock as she noticed that her cover was basically blown.

"This was my plan all along, Rio. Bring you out into broad daylight so that the whole world will see you," the wolf smirked, "I had known that you would protect this city, and yet the moment they learned your secret, they would cast you out as nothing more then a freak of nature. That's one of the beauties... of fear. Fear comes from what they don't understand, and it eventually turns into distrust and hate, just like when your island was taken from you. And with that… I leave you to your fate." And with that, the wolf got onto all fours and ran off into the distance.

Rio looked at all the people nervously, backing away as all the people either looked confused, concerned, or freaked out to see a girl acting like an animal. Rio was then starting to get nervous, getting down, ready to enter a fetal position, when suddenly, lightning struck the center of Time Square, making the crowds split before Thor revealed himself, Rio springing up on all fours in surprise before turning to see the thunder god.

"There you are, young one. I have been searching for you," Thor said, Rio looking shocked and a bit terrified, backing up on all fours, "I can assure you, harming you is not my intention."

Rio just hissed at first, trying to get Thor to back off, but when she saw he was unfazed, she kneeled her head down in fear.

"I can see that you're scared, just remain calm. Look, just to show you that I am true to my word," Thor said as he put his hammer down on the street and let it go before walking towards Rio, who looked hesitant and nervous, "It'll be fine. Just trust me… I just want to talk with you."

Rio was still a bit hesitant before she slowly sprawled to Thor and reached out to Thor's hand. In turn, Thor ended up reaching his hand out before they touched hands, Thor holding out his other hand towards his hammer, causing it to fly into his hand before he raised it to the air causing a bolt of lightning to hit where Thor and Rio stood, making them disappear.

Nearby, in the shadows, the man clad in green and gold smirked as he faded away, looking like he had a plan up his sleeve.

* * *

Later, Thor and Rio appeared in a secluded area of Central Park, where no one would look for them.

"Alright, we're away from the people," Thor assured, Rio sighing with relief before she turning to Thor and signing 'Thank you' to him, Thor looking a little confused, "You speak with your hands? Well… this is new to me."

Rio just sighed, facepalming herself in annoyance before Thor crouched to her level.

"I'm sorry, but I do not understand your manner of speaking. Can you not form words or speak at all?" Thor asked, Rio just shaking her head while going 'Mm-Mm', "Oh… I see… verily, I would require a translator for you. And I think I know just the person to help me."

As Thor was about to get up, Rio grabbed his arm and pulled him back down slowly, shaking her head at Thor, who was confused before Rio signed and mouthed 'No'.

"I'm afraid it is the only way I can understand what you are saying. Do not worry, these are good friends of mine, they will not harm you," he assured Rio, who still looked hesitant, but nodded her head in understanding before they suddenly heard sirens on the streets nearby, Rio hiding behind Thor.

"This is the police, we know you're guarding the animal girl. Surrender her now or we'll be authorized to use force," the head officer declared over the megaphone, Rio hiding under Thor's red cape and shaking in fear.

"Calm down, young one. I'll handle this," Thor assured before he looked over the stone they were behind, "I don't know what you want with the girl, but she did not do any harm to anyone; she will stay with me until you know further about her."

"You better do what he says, brother. I doubt they want any trouble," he heard, and to his surprise, Thor looked amongst the officers to see the figure in green and black holding the megaphone.

"Loki, what're you doing here? And what business do you have?" Thor demanded to know from his supposed brother.

"Nothing you would understand, brother, but I will indulge you," Loki started, "They see the Feralian that you are guarding as a loose animal. They're merely here to just put her in a cage… where she belongs."

"You shall not get her, Loki. I'm sure you have tampered with the minds of the force after they witnessed her in the city."

"You're as perceptive as ever, brother. In that case, I suppose I'll just have to deal with you while the authorities take care of the circus freak," Loki informed as Thor leapt over the stone.

"Run!" Thor told Rio, who sprawled off as fast as she could, the officers chasing after her leaving Thor and Loki face to face.

Rio continued to run away as the officers chased her. She then began jumping up on the trees to try and get further away and lose them. The police continued to follow her as she ran and swung through the trees, one of them pulling out a tranquilizer rifle from the back of the van and putting a scope on the top of the gun before aiming it, getting a better view of Rio. Once he had a clear shot, he fired the dart out of the rifle, hitting Rio in the back.

"AGCK!" Rio screamed in response before falling off the trees, landing on the ground before flailing her body around, turning herself and shaking, trying to get the dart off her back, that is until she eventually did and the cops surrounded her.

She looked up, her vision looking blurry as she began to lose her footing, her reflexes grew sluggish and then finally, she fell down.

Meanwhile, back with Thor and Loki's fight, Thor was clashing his hammer with Loki's staff, the two trading blows constantly before Loki spun his staff to knock Thor away so he can throw a little dagger at him. Thor, however, smashed the dagger with his hammer before they were at a stand still.

"...You cannot win, Loki. Why show interest in the young girl?" Thor responded to Loki.

"It's none of your concern, brother. All I will tell you is that we've already completed what we set out to do," Loki informed Thor as he backed up.

"'We'? Hold on a moment… that wolf the girl was fighting… are you in league with it?" Thor asked.

"Amazing, you figured this all out very fast," Loki smirked in a condescending tone as the officers arrived, dragging Rio's unconscious body by her arms, "You're not as dumb as you look. Now if you don't mind, Wulof and I are off to plan some fun."

With that, Loki walked off and disappeared in a puff of grey mist as the cops put Rio into the van, sending her off as Thor just stood there in disappointment. He was forced to just stand there and watch as the van drove off, knowing it was against his better judgment to harm humans, even if they're under the control of Loki.

-Thor, what happened? Come in, Thor,- he heard Fury contacting him through his earpiece, to which Thor quickly responded.

"Apologies, Fury, but it appears that Loki and this wolf creature that he names Wulof are working together. They led her out into the open to expose her identity and secret… now Loki's brainwashed the law enforcement to capture the girl," Thor responded.

-Damn. We have to be very discreet about this. We need to get her out of there now.-

"No need to worry, Fury, I'm sure you remember that I have two of the finest scientists that work closely with S.H.I.E.L.D. as my closest allies. I will consort with them and see if they can get her out of there," Thor told Fury.

-I read you. Just make sure she's alright. She looks like the skittish type,- Fury noted.

"Indeed. She seemed hesitant to accept my aid, and… correct me if I'm wrong, but she seemed more animal despite her human appearance. Why is this?"

-I'm not sure… maybe she's some special kind of race or something.-

"Loki said she's a Feralian, does that name sound familiar to you?"

-Hmm… I have heard that name once before. I heard it when discussing with Dr. Foster that one time. As you said, talk with Dr's. Sevig and Foster, they should be able to fill you in on any details, as well as bail our little animal girl out.- Fury told Thor, who nodded in response before the communication cut short and he teleported with his hammer again.

* * *

 **KKD: Whoa… that was… shocking…**

 **TB: I know, right. We got a girl acting like an animal… getting caged up like an animal.**

 **KKD: That's just cruel…**

 **TB: Again… I KNOW, RIGHT?! Excuse me for that. Anyways, what did you think of the story so far.**

 **KKD: Well, I gotta say, this is a very clever twist compared to other characters. Similar to Daredevil being blind, we have a character who can't speak English, but only animal grunts, growls, hisses, and via a unique sign language only few know.**

 **TB: Originally we were gonna have her as a regular girl, but I decided this would be more interesting. I sort of modeled her personality like a female mix between Tarzan and Caesar from the Planet of the Apes reboots. How do you think Rio is?**

 **KKD: She's pretty cool, being able to pull off those skills without saying much at all.**

 **TB: Some characters, in order to make the story more dramatic and/or effective, prove that you can say little but still convey enough to get the people to care about you. Anyway, what was your favorite part?**

 **KKD: Hmm… I'd have to say my favorite part is whenever she had to use her powers, and her fight with Wulof.**

 **TB: Before we get a Jean Luc Picard facepalm from the readers, yes, Wulof was the best name we could come up with for the wolf. Sometimes, our imaginations are limited.**

 **KKD: Yea, I was hoping to try some anagram of Beowulf, but~...**

 **TB: Don't blame me for this. At least I tried.**

 **KKD: Right... -_-**

 **TB: Moving on. I really liked that fight you mentioned as well as scenes with Rio being cute. I mean seriously, who wouldn't be going 'D'AWWW~' at her curious antics?**

 **KKD: Yes, she truly retains a childlike innocence many people lose as they grow older.**

 **TB: Yes, despite her possibly looking like a late teenager to young adult, she still maintains a playful and childlike innocence, like some other animals.**

 **KKD: Yea… anyway, that's all the time we have for now. Until next time, I'm KKD Silver, the Crossover King…**

 **TB: And I'm your resident Lone Rider, TokuBrony…**

 **KKD: And we'll see you next time. Jaa ne.**

 **TB: SEIYAA!**


	2. Chapter 2

**TB: Meep Meep! *zips in before baseball sliding into the studio***

 **KKD: *crashes into a fake hole in the wall before holding up a sign saying "Ouch!"***

 **TB: Frickin' Looney Tunes cliches. *pulls KKD off wall***

 **KKD: ...Flat as a pancake… *puts his thumb in his mouth and blows into it, inflating himself back to normal* Man, I hate it when I gotta do that.**

 **TB: But enough about cartoon physics, we got a story to continue.**

 **KKD: Right. *clears throat* We last left off with Rio in a bit of a pickle.**

 **TB: She's getting caged up like an animal. So how bout we roll dose Disclaimers and see how she's doing?**

 **KKD: Right. *picks up a black spear and launches it at the screen, the spear turning into the disclaimer screen on the way***

 **DISCLAIMERS: No one owns anything here related to Marvel or it's superheroes, except for the original characters and concepts within. The rest belong to Marvel, Disney, etc.**

* * *

We see Rio waking up in some sort of cell room. She looked around it nervously before sprawling to get out, only to bump into a glass wall. She rubbed her poor nose before trying to figure out what was going on before she placed her hand on the glass for confirmation. She gasped in shock before she started banging on the glass wall with her forearms, wanting to get out, screaming and shouting in a primal matter, but on the outside of the cell, the glass was apparently soundproof. On the side of the glass opposite of Rio, two white-labcoat wearing scientists were examining her and taking notes.

"Notice that this girl displays primal behavior the moment she spots the glass," one of the scientists noted, "It would appear that she can be very hostile."

"I doubt that. It's possible she is just confused. She wants to be free," the other scientist responded, Rio managing to hear what they were talking about, looking rather nervous before signing to them 'Let me out, please.', "And it would appear she has some intelligence to form sign language. It seems she's trying to communicate with us."

"She wouldn't understand what that means. And besides even if she did, do you really want her running loose? She could cause a ruckus."

"She's so young, though. She could just want to see what the world wants to offer. Maybe she just wants to interact with us. She does appear to be human, so perhaps she requires some form of social interaction."

"How can someone… or some _thing_ like her understand interacting with humans? She's too primal and beastly for that sort of thing," the first scientist retorted, Rio gasping in shock and suddenly starting to tear up a little from that remark.

"Look at that, now you just made her cry. Are you happy now?" the other scientist snapped.

"She's an animal."

"Just because she _acts_ like one doesn't mean she doesn't have feelings. Even animals can express some form of emotion; dogs, cats, even gorillas and chimpanzees."

"They don't truly express emotions like we can; we're applying too many human characteristics to beasts. When you look at an animal, you can never tell what it's thinking or feeling, so why try to interpret it as if it were human?!"

"Excuse me, gentlemen," the two heard an older voice reply as an older man with a balding head of blonde hair and blue eyes wearing a navy blue sweater, beige pants and orange shoes walked in, getting the two scientists' attention, "I believe I can determine which of your theories about this… unique specimen over here is correct."

"Have you been hearing our discussion?" one of the scientists asked.

"Yes… but only for long enough. This girl does display beastly behavior, assumedly both domestic and wild characteristics," the old man informed as Rio looked on at their discussion, giving a rather confused expression, "However, despite all of those things, she still seems to be unquestionably human. Obviously her appearance indicates she's one, but also her intelligence if she can communicate through simple hand gestures."

"Seriously? It doesn't really know what it's-"

"Oh put a cork in it. He is more valid about this girl than you'll ever be!" the other scientist snapped back, defending the old man's claim about Rio.

"I hate to interrupt, but I'm going to have to take her. I wish to study her actions and behavioral patterns myself, and perhaps teach her how to be more human." the old man informed.

"...I'm sorry… who are you exactly?" the first scientist questioned, the old man pulling an ID necklace from under his sweater which showed the information required.

"Dr. Erik Selvig. Now, gentlemen if you don't mind, I would like to take her into my custody, which I have clearance for," the man, Dr. Selvig, informed, the scientists nodding in compliance as they opened the cell Rio was in, allowing her to crawl out before looking up at Erik, "It's okay, young one. You can come with me. Come here."

Rio was a bit hesitant, but somehow could tell Selvig was being kind to her before crawling to him by his legs.

"Thank you for your cooperation, gentlemen. Have a nice day," Erik smiled as he led Rio out the door, eventually walking out of the facility and to Erik's car.

He then opened the back door for Rio before he got her into the car and then started it, Rio looking hesitant to get in.

"Come on, get in the car. It's not like the car's gonna hurt you or anything," Erik said, chuckling a little, Rio not amused as Erik began to motion her to come in.

Rio slowly sprawled to the open back seat of Selvig's car before hopping in, trying to make sure she was safe as Selvig drove off.

* * *

We now see Erik and Rio in the car, Rio still looking around in nervousness while Erik focused on the road, looking back at Rio now and then via his rearview mirror.

"It's a good thing I got you out of there. Thor told me that you were in danger, so he asked me to get you out," Erik told the girl, Rio looking a bit surprised before signing 'You know hammer man? Where is he?', "He's currently busy with Fury at the moment. Don't worry, he's fine."

Rio then looked down, looking rather sad as tears began to form in her eyes, Erik seeing her mope on his mirror.

"Hey, what's the matter?" he asked in concern, Rio looking up at him with tear stained eyes before signing 'It's just as I feared. Humans don't understand me. They see me as nothing but an animal and a freak.', sniffling a little, "Don't worry. I'm sure people will understand you soon enough. Come on, I don't like seeing someone as adorable as you looking sad. It doesn't look like it suits you."

Rio looked confused before signing 'You don't think of me as a freak?'.

"Of course not. You seem intelligent enough to understand humans," Erik assured, Rio sniffling before she wiped her eyes with her arm and then looking up and Erik with a small smile.

'Thank you. You are very kind,' Rio signed before she realized something, 'How can you understand me?'

"Well that's because I learned how to understand sign language while traveling, and your signs may be different, but there's enough similarities to understand it," Erik answered as Rio got back on all fours, "Are you ready to meet my colleague?"

Rio looked unsure at first before she signed 'I believe I am'. With that, Erik found a spot to park in front of an apartment building complex before he got out of the car and opened the back door for Rio. Rio got out before she and Erik started walking/sprawling into the apartment complex, going upstairs before finding room 26C, Erik knocking on the door.

"Don't worry, Jane's a good friend. She and I can both help you," he assured Rio, who was hiding behind his legs, clearly nervous as the two stood by the door.

Then the door opened to reveal a woman with brown straight hair, amber eyes, and was wearing a grey sweatshirt, blue jeans and black shoes.

"Hey Erik. What's going on?" the woman asked before she noticed Rio, and was a bit surprised, "Wait, isn't that the animal girl that was seen in the center of Time Square?"

"Yes, this is her, Jane. She seems very unique," Erik noted as Rio slowly looked at the woman from behind Erik before going back behind his legs, shaking a little, "Also very skittish."

"I noticed," Jane nodded before she crouched down to Rio's level, "Come on. Come here, I'm not gonna hurt you."

Rio looked nervous before she saw Jane hold out her hand. She then slowly crawled away from Erik and closer to Jane, holding her hand out as well. The two girls then touched hands, Rio looking very curious as she signed 'Friend?', to which Jane responded back by signing 'Yes'. This left Rio surprised at first before smiling, signing their names before parting her thumbs and pinkies from her other fingers, weaving the others together while the tips of the other four touched and she held her hands so her pinkies faced Jane, and her thumbs faced herself.

"Is that your sign of friendship?" Jane asked, Rio nodding in response as Jane did the same thing she did and their pinkies touched each other.

The girls smiled as they did this, Rio then grabbing Jane's head and bringing it closer to hers, and she touched foreheads with Jane, the latter identifying it as a sign of respect and just went with it, the two girls closing eyes before they let go.

"So I assume you're here because Thor asked Dr. Selvig over here to bust you out, right?" Jane asked Rio, who simply nodded in response, "Alright, come on in guys."

With that, Erik and Rio walked into Jane's apartment, which had a futon in the center with a TV in front of it, some bookshelves, a few chairs, a small kitchenette and dining room with a table and a separate bedroom and bathroom.

"Pardon me if the place is a mess, I've been doing some research and I hadn't had much time to clean up," Jane replied before Rio tugged her shirt and signed 'I can help. I can help.', "Well… I suppose… uh… can you move those papers off the table for me?"

Rio nodded before sprawling over to the dining room table full of papers, and then, the snake on her scarf glowed before her limbs gained scales, as well as the skin on her arms green with some orange spots that had white outlines on them, and she used her limbs to stretch them out across the table and move some of the papers aside before she noticed one page in particular. She picked this paper up as her arms returned to normal as she examined it, gave off a surprised look, and then she ran back to Jane, who looked to her.

"Ah. Ah. Ah," Rio grunted, getting Jane's attention as she showed her the paper and then signed, 'What is this?'.

"Huh? Oh, this? This is a page about something I've learned about in the past six months. The Feralians, a subspecies that live in an island uncharted in the Atlantic Ocean by the coast of the Caribbean Islands. I can't believe that one of them, you, is actually here in front of me right now and in my apartment, no less," Jane responded in amazement, Rio tilting her head in confusion before signing 'Do you see me as an experiment or your guinea pig? You talk like those guys in white.', "No, no no no, I don't want you thinking that. I'm a friend; this is all just research. While you are very animal, Dr. Sevig and I are going to help you learn to be more human, teach you how to speak, how to walk properly, that kind of stuff. Other stuff, I want to see just how much you know in terms of intelligence."

Rio just looked nervous and hesitant about that, backing up a bit before signing 'I'm not sure if that's right for me. I mean… up until this point, I've been scared of humans, and it's clear they've been scared of me, mostly, but I don't know if I, myself, can be like them.'

"Don't worry, it'll be fine. It won't involve anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, and it definitely won't get you or other people hurt."

'But… I don't want to change who I am,' Rio signed, still feeling hesitant.

"You won't change, you'll just learn to act in a way that the people will accept you. I wouldn't want you to deny your heritage, don't think otherwise, but I think it would be easier if you… blend in," Jane informed Rio, who sighed in defeat before looking up and signing 'If you insist, and if it'll help me… then I'll do it.', "Great, I'm glad we could come to an agreement."

'Before we do anything...' Rio started signing before sprawling over to the paper that had the research on her kind, the Feralians, on it, 'I need to know how much you know about my people.'

"Right… I'll tell you as much as I know. Your kind is a special type of human, living like animals in what I've read to be a dangerous island, but you also have human levels of intelligence. By childhood, you learn to fight and by adolescence, the leader of your clan, the Alpha I suppose, gives a particular piece of clothing that grant you the powers of certain animals he or she deems you worthy of using, in your case a scarf that depicts an elephant for strength, a snake for elasticity, a cat for heightened senses such as sight, a rabbit for increased jumping height, a bat for flight, and a unicorn for magic and spells."

Rio nodded in response while signing 'That sounds about right so far. You really are smart.'

"Thank you. Though while researching, I discovered that the island was destroyed somehow, along with the rest of the Feralians," Jane noted, making Rio nod and begin to tear up a bit.

"What happened to it?" Erik asked.

Rio sniffled a bit before signing, 'It was my fault. I allowed a human, who wandered into the island, to stay. I trusted him… I loved him.' As she was telling the story, her eyes were turning red from the tears, 'And then… a group of humans… with guns came onto our island. Killed all my people, and all because the human that I called 'my love' brought them there. They then burned any other evidence of my home to the ocean.'

"Oh my God," Erik gawked in shock as Rio was sniffling while signing 'My home… is gone.', mouthing the words 'home' and 'gone' before breaking down in tears.

"Hey hey hey, it's okay," Jane said, getting closer to Rio before giving her a hug to comfort her, which Rio just let her do, "It's okay. We're friends, that means we would never do anything like that to you."

Rio wiped her tears with her arm before looking at Jane, her eyes teary and blood-shot, and signing 'You are very good. You really are my friend' before grabbing Jane's head and touched foreheads with her, the two girls smiling and closing their eyes for a moment, Erik backing off to let them have this nice and peaceful moment.

"Okay," Jane started as they both opened their eyes, "Are you ready?"

'...Yes… I think so,' Rio signed with a nod, her and Jane letting go as they smiled at each other.

* * *

Meanwhile, we see a man with short black hair that was slicked back, yellow eyes, and was wearing a white shirt under a black jacket, grey jeans, and black boots while also having a pair of sunglasses over his yellow eyes, walking through the streets of Manhattan before stopping in front of a gun store. He then walked inside and looked at the various firearms and rifles before walking up to the front table.

"Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you?" the clerk asked.

"I would like the best rifles and guns you got. Which ones do you recommend?" the man requested.

"Well now, let me see what I can give you. One moment," the clerk replied, turning around to look at the weapons behind him before pulling out a shotgun that was a pump action and had a switch on it, made of a dark gunmetal black iron, and had a nice dark brown wooden finish to it, "This is the 12 Gauge Italian Franchi Shotgun. You can go pump or auto with this baby."

The man picked up the gun, admiring the craftsmanship put into it, checking it out like he was aiming it first before testing the switch and the pump and then putting it back down.

"What about the big hand gun down there?" the man asked, pointing to a revolver pistol with a black handle, the rest being a nice chromed silver, the clerk looking at it before taking it out.

"This, my friend, is the .44 Magnum Revolver Pistol. They say it's the most powerful handgun in the world," he informed as the man took it.

He then pushed the six hole barrel that was in the pistol out on the left side before turning it, pushing it back in and then aimed it.

"Anything else?" the clerk asked.

"How about that one?" the man answered, pointing to a gun that had the same colors as the shotgun, including the wooden finish, except it had a curved magazine for the bullets.

"This is the AK-47 Sub Machine Gun. It can go Semi-Auto and Auto with just a click of the switch," the clerk answered with the man picking it up, examining it, aiming it, and testing the switch as well as looking at the magazine.

"One more and that will be it. That small one right there."

The clerk looked over to a black gun that had a long straight magazine coming from the bottom of it before taking it out.

"This is the 9 MM Uzi. It can go fully automatic," the clerk answered as the man picked it up and aimed with one hand, "So, uh, which one will it be."

"I'll take all of them." the man answered.

"Ooh, that's gonna be a toughie. It's gonna be a 10 day wait on the rifles and machine guns, but the handgun you can take right now," the clerk noted as he pulled out the papers for each of the guns while the man took the bullets required for each gun, and began to load up the shotgun with live 12 gauge rounds, "Just be sure to sign where it tells you and-. Hey hey hey, you can't do that!"

The man just did anyway before pumping the shotgun and aiming it at the clerk.

"Wrong. I _can_ … and I _did_ ," the man pointed out as he smirked before he pulled the trigger and fired at the clerk, smoke coming out of the barrel afterwards. He then put the barrel close to his face before he blew out the smoke.

* * *

The man just walked out of the burning building, the rifle and shotgun strapped to his back while the machine gun and revolver were holstered to his waist, bags of ammo and rounds being held in a plastic bag he held in one hand while adjusting his sunglasses. He was able to walk away before fire trucks and police arrived on the scene as he walked into an alley.

"I got the stuff you told me to get," the man informed as Loki appeared in a puff of smoke before he waved his staff in front of the man, the humanoid figure glowing before revealing it was Wulof.

"Now I want you to have some fun with your new toys, go all out if you wish, and make sure that that bothersome pest is dealt with while I go for my brother." Loki told him.

"Understood," Wulof replied as he climbed up a building before Loki disappeared.

* * *

Later, Jane and Erik were standing in front of Rio, who was sitting on the floor at the moment looking at them.

"Okay, Rio, the first thing we are gonna teach you is how to walk upright," Jane told Rio, who nodded before looking at her legs and feet with curiosity and then signing 'So… I have to walk with just my legs? It sounds… new, foreign to me.', "Don't worry, we'll help you out. Dr. Selvig, care to start?"

"Of course. First, push your upper body off the ground and you'll be able to stand," Erik told Rio, who turned on all fours to get herself ready.

She then did as Erik told her, slowly getting ready before using her hands to push herself upward before she raised her upper body up slowly so that she was standing on her feet, stumbling a little along the way.

"Oh, oh," Rio muttered as she tried to keep her balance, flailing her arms a bit, but she fell down, "Oooh."

"Don't worry, you'll get used to it. C'mon, try again," Jane insisted, Rio sitting on the floor, pouting.

'I can barely stand, how do you expect me to walk?' Rio signed, clearly bummed by her failed first attempt.

"Nobody gets anything done on the first try, and even then it's by pure luck. You have to keep on trying, then you'll get better at it," Erik told Rio, who looked at her feet again before she nodded and then slowly stood back up again.

This time, she was able to keep her balance longer than before as she used her feet to really grip the ground, getting a better feel of the floor. Rio then decided to take a small step forward and she was able to hang onto her footing, stumbling a little bit along the way but holding out her arms to balance herself.

"That's it, keep going," Jane encouraged, allowing Rio to continue walking forward until she reached her and Erik, then she slipped on the ground, falling towards Jane, who caught her easily, "Easy there. I got you."

Rio just looked at Jane and giggled a bit as she signed 'Thanks'.

"I think that's enough lessons for a moment. Now why don't I help clean you up? I think you could use a bath," Jane figured as Rio got back down on all fours before signing 'You gotta catch me first.', and then she ran away, "Hey! Rio, don't go doing this!"

Jane then ran to go catch Rio, running around the apartment after Rio before the latter ran back in the living room and was hiding behind the futon. Jane then ran back into the room a bit exhausted.

"Hey, Erik, where'd she go?" Jane panted, Erik pointing to the futon where Jane could see Rio's feet sticking out behind the left side, "Oh. Shhh…"

Jane then tiptoed up to the futon, Rio giggling softly behind the small couch before she felt something touch her feet that made her start to laugh.

"I got you now," Jane smirked as she started tickling Rio's feet, making Rio laugh loudly as she tried signing 'Stop, that tickles!', but couldn't because she was laughing too hard.

It didn't take much for Jane to convince Rio to get to the bathroom to clean up, both of them walking to the bathroom.

* * *

Outside the bathroom, Erik just sat waiting, reading a book entitled 'The Hobbit' while Jane was giving Rio a bath in there. He just sat there, reading his book before Jane and Rio walked out, Jane having some splashes of water on her clothes and Rio's hair looking like it was separated into very thin lines after being just dried, and also going all over the place.

"She was quite the hassle," Jane commented as Rio shook her head and body like a dog would, trying to get the water off her body, "She also apparently has the mindset of a child. Not that that's necessarily a bad thing, but it is rather exhausting."

'There's no point being grown up if you can't be childish,' Rio signed with a slight giggle, making Jane and Erik laugh a little along with her before Rio noticed the book in his hands, 'Hey, can I read that?'

"Well… it's a bit long, but if you got time, here you go," Erik shrugged, handing Rio the book as she took it and sprawled off to the couch before she got up and started reading.

* * *

A few minutes later, Rio was laying on the couch upside down, reading the book when she looked upside down at the table and saw a 3 by 3 square cube sitting on a table, known as the Rubik's Cube.

"Oooh," Rio gawked, admiring the cube before she looked at both the book and the cube, "Hmm…"

Looking between the book and her feet, Rio then moved her legs and grasped the book with her toes before she grabbed the cube on the table and began to examine it in curiosity. She now had the book in the grasp of her feet in a way she was still reading while she noticed the colors squares on the cube, learned how to rotate, and then started to try and match all the colors. It wasn't long before Erik noticed this while standing in the kitchenette.

"Hey, Jane, look at this," Erik whispered, ushering Jane to look and see Rio's version of multitasking, "This is amazing. You're right, she does display human levels of intelligence. Maybe even a little _above_ average."

"That is amazing. We are witnessing a Feralian actually be able to do two things at the same time," Jane gawked with a smile, Rio still trying to solve the puzzle while turning a page in the book with her toes, "She's capable of multitasking on levels greater than any normal human. Truly amazing."

"That's for sure," Erik nodded, Rio finishing matching all the colors, putting the cube onto the table and then going back to the book, taking it back into her hands before she saw Jane and Erik clapping their hands, "That's astounding. We haven't seen anything like that before."

"Easy there, Erik. She's probably not used to such praise or admiration before," Jane replied, Rio blushing in response to the compliment, trying to hide it behind the book, "You might be smart, but you can't hide a blush very well, Rio."

Erik and Jane laughed a bit as Rio nervously giggled until they heard a loud boom come from outside. Needing little coaxing, Rio put the book down and sprawled to look out the window with Erik and Jane. The two saw Wulof firing his AK-47 out in the streets, with one hand.

"Oh, oh. AH, AH, AH!" Rio exclaimed, pointing at Wulof while signing 'That's Wulof! He and I fought in the part of the city with the big lights!'

"I'm guessing that's the wolf thing out there drew her out into the open," Jane figured as Rio ran out of the apartment room to go fight Wulof.

* * *

Outside, Wulof continued firing his gun, howling as he did, before he heard a primal scream coming from above him, turning to see Rio jumping down at him, only for the wolf to howl again, Rio stopping instantly to cover her ears as she fell to the floor.

"Nice try, Rio. Bet you didn't think to see me with the same types of weapons those humans took on the island, right?" Wulof scoffed with a chuckle, Rio scowling at Wulof before signing 'How do you know about what happened with me?'

"I saw what the humans did to the island, admired the agony and despair of your heart, it was delicious. I also liked the weapons they had, and thanks to Loki, I was able to go under the guise of a human to obtain these."

'Where is hammer man's brother now?' Rio signed, demanding to know.

"He's got some… 'family matters' to attend to, fighting Thor right now," Wulof answered before aiming his uzi and firing at Rio, who skillfully dodged the bullets.

This went on with her parkouring, until Wulof managed to hit her arm with a stray bullet, Rio crying out in pain as she layed on the street gripping the wound on her arm.

"Not so fast as you thought, huh? As painfully short as this was, I'm afraid we should now part ways. Goodbye, Rio," Wulof smirked as he aimed his shotgun at her.

However, Rio tried to focus before, when Wulof fired, she performed a cartwheel to dodge the blast in time, crouching afterwards before slowly standing upright with just her legs. This left Wulof with a surprised and shocked expression on his face.

"What… how?! ...You were never able to fully walk before! How are you doing this!?" he gawked, demanding to know as Rio signed 'Two very good people taught me'.

Wulof attempted to fire again when Rio took off, flipping in the air before kicking Wulof in the side of the head. She then flipped the opposite direction and kicked the gun out of his hand, causing Wulof to growl before she did a backwards flip, kicking him in the chin and knocking him back.

"Grr… stupid, ignorant animal," Wulof growled before he looked to a nearby car and picked it up before tossing it at Rio.

However, the bat on her scarf glowed, causing her ears to change into bat ears and bat wings growing from her back before she flew up and avoided the incoming car. Then, she skydived down at Wulof, knocking him down with every attack, even screeching into his ears before giving one final dive kick, sending him to the floor.

"I'll be back," Wulof growled as he ran away on all fours, vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"Hmm," Rio groaned a little before getting on all fours herself, and then running back to Jane's apartment.

* * *

'The wolf was armed with guns. They were given to him with the help of hammer man's brother.' Rio signed, making Jane gasp in response.

"Loki's with that thing?! But how? Why?!" Jane gawked, stunned by this revelation, before she heard her computer with a sort of beeping jingle, causing the group to turn and see the call was from S.H.I.E.L.D..

"Looks like Fury needs to talk with us," Erik figured as they, along with Rio, went to the computer, Jane answering the call as Nick Fury appeared on the screen, Rio backing up in surprise, "Fury? We hear you, what is it?"

 _-I got word that Wulof and Loki were causing havoc on two separate sections of New York. Wulof was firing off shots over near where you guys were, while Loki was last seen near 34th Street. Thor went over there to take care of it, and I assume everything went well on your side,-_ Fury responded.

"Yes, Rio's right here with us. She found out about Loki's cooperation with him," Jane informed, Rio looking at the screen, slowly approaching it, and jumping up on the chair so Fury could see her.

- _So this is our wild child here, Rio. Good to finally see you in person.-_

Rio then began signing, leaving Fury with a slightly confused expression

"She's asking where Thor is. She wants to talk with him," Jane translated.

- _At the moment, Thor is still in combat against Loki on 34th,-_ Fury answered, Rio signing again.

"Now she's asking if he needs her help."

 _-At the moment he seems to be handling Loki fine, but I will let you know if he does. In the meantime, keep comfortable with these two, Rio.-_

With that, Fury's image on the screen faded out, Rio just looking suspicious for a moment before signing 'Something about him doesn't feel right. I don't know why, but I don't trust him.'

"He's on our side, Rio. I'll admit, I felt the same way at first too, but in the long run, he's a good person. He has the best of intentions if it involves people like you," Jane assured Rio, who just nodded in understanding before gripping her leg in a bit of pain, wincing and whimpering as she saw some blood on her hand, "Oh my… you got injured from earlier? I guess one of that wolf thing's bullets hit your leg."

Rio just whimpered like a wounded dog as she gripped her leg in pain while Erik rushed to find something, coming back with a first aid kit. Jane helped him get some stuff out of it.

"Just relax, Rio. We'll help you get that bullet out and patch up your leg," Erik assured Rio as she whimpered, moving away from him while signing 'No. It's going to hurt. I don't want to hurt any more than I am now.'

"Sometimes in order to cure one pain, we have to endure another," Jane informed, Rio still looking hesitant, "If you're really scared, just wait right there. I'll be back."

Jane walked to a room in the back before opening a closet and pulling out a small violet blanket. She then walked back and handed it to Rio, who looked confused.

"This is an old blanket I used to have when I was a kid. I'm going to give this to you so that you have something to keep you happy, as well as comfort you when you're scared. You can even sleep with it," Jane told her, Rio gripping the blanket before Erik used a pair of tweezers to pull the bullet out of her leg.

Rio screeched in pain, so much so that Jane covered her ears from the sound. A short while after, Erik was done, and was now stitching up Rio's bullet wound with her still holding the blanket close to her.

'Thank you, Jane. I like this blanket,' Rio signed, making Jane smile as Rio cuddled the blanket as Erik was now putting a small band-aid on her wound, finishing.

"There we go," Erik smiled, backing up, "All better. You feeling better now?"

She nodded, before she saw a mirror and walked over to it. She then went under the table before poked out from the table now and then, smiling at her reflection and giggling while seeing herself.

"I guess that's her version of peek-a-boo," Jane giggled a bit as Rio continued playing her game before she looked between her blanket and scarf. She simply thought about it before deciding to save it for a later time and then she looked under the T.V. to find DVDs of King Kong and Jurassic Park.

"Oh, oh. Oh, oh," Rio responded, pointing to the DVDs.

"Do you want to watch those?" Jane asked, Rio nodding as she handed them to her, "Okay, which one do you want first?"

Rio pondered which one to watch before pointing to King Kong, to which Jane put on, and the three sat down to watch it.

* * *

 **KKD: That was adorable.**

 **TB: I know, right?! Just… D'AWW!**

 **KKD: Indeed.**

 **TB: Well it's a good thing we managed to get this chapter done.**

 **KKD: Yea, good thing. So what's your favorite part?**

 **TB: Aside from Rio being cute?**

 **KKD: Maybe.**

 **TB: I like the part where they were teaching her how to properly stand and walk, as well as her fight with a gun toting Wulof.**

 **KKD: Yea, those were cute, but I was also fascinated by Rio's multi-tasking when she read a book and solved a Rubik's Cube at the same time.**

 **TB: She's like a cuter female version of Beast from X-Men.**

 **KKD: Right.**

 **TB: Now how about we head out.**

 **KKD: Good idea. So until next time, min'na, this has been KKD Silver, the Crossover King…**

 **TB: And this is the Lone Rider, TokuBrony…**

 **KKD: Signing out. Jaa ne.**

 **TB: SEIYAA!**


	3. Chapter 3

**TB: Whew, Senryu… what a ride that was.**

 **KKD: I'll say… And I loved every second of it.**

 **TB: Oh hell yeah. Now we move on to the continuation of the badass, and adorable, Dazel.**

 **KKD: After the epicness of Senryu, I think I'd die with her cuteness.**

 **TB: Why don't we set up the D'AWW-o-Meter? *hooks up the letter to a helmet strapped to KKD's head***

 **KKD: Why do I need this again?**

 **TB: So that you don't get hurt or pass out. Hey look, there's characters on the D'AWW-o-Meter. Let's see… we have Kirby, um… Pikachu from Pokemon…**

 **KKD: ...uh... The Powerpuff Girls... The CMC…**

 **TB: Hmm… Rapunzel from Disney's Tangled… and at the end is… Fluttershy.**

 **KKD: Oh man… This could be tough…**

 **TB: But challenge accepted. Cue the Disclaimers!**

 **KKD: Right. *starts to walk only to plop over onto his back thanks to the helmet* Ow...**

 **TB: I'll help you up. *does so and finds the disclaimers under him before placing them on the camera***

 **DISCLAIMERS: No one owns anything here related to Marvel or it's superheroes, except for the original characters and concepts within. The rest belong to Marvel, Disney, etc.**

* * *

We see that it was late at night, the light of the moon shining on Rio, who was on the couch, sleeping with the blanket that Jane gave her over her body, nuzzling up in it as she slept sweetly and soundly. As she was sleeping, Jane walked slowly by and noticed her. She couldn't help but smile, soon turning her gaze to see a paper and a pencil that looked like it's been chewed on the table near the couch.

"What's this?" she whispered to herself as she picked up the paper and opened it to see scribbles that almost said 'I miss my family.' before she saw Rio turning over on the couch to feel more comfortable, "I guess she really did take the fault pretty hard. I've got an idea for her in the morning."

* * *

Rio simply looked at a small bowl of cereal and milk, giving it a quick smell at first before lapping up the milk like a cat, trying to get the cereal bits with her tongue. After she ate and wiped off some milk from her lip, she looked over to her blanket and began to do her sign language to it, as if talking to it.

"...Is she… talking to an inanimate object?" Erik asked.

"...Yea. She named it Blanky… though… she does spell it 'B-L-A-N-K-Y'. It's her childlike mindset, you can't really blame her," Jane replied.

"...Still odd though. But I've seen odder, so what are you gonna do. Rio, can you come over here?"

She heard Erik ask her before she took the blanket and crawled over to him and Jane.

"Ok. Today, we'll start teaching you English, that is how to actually speak it," Jane informed Rio, signing at the same time just to be safe.

'But... I don't know if I will be able to speak with my mouth instead of my hands. It's not easy,' Rio signed admittedly.

"Don't worry, once you start talking, you wouldn't want to stop," Erik chuckled, Rio looking a bit unamused before signing 'That wasn't funny… And seriously, I can't speak no matter how hard I tried.'

"We believe that you can do this," Jane assured, "Now… I would like you to say what you wrote on this piece of paper, please."

Rio's eyes widened as she saw the paper, 'How'd you know I wrote this?' she signed.

"I found it while you were sleeping. I figured what happened on your island was still bothering you. So consider this your therapy, a way to get it out, per se."

Rio sighed before nodding and began to slowly try to speak what she so clumsily wrote.

"I... I… mmm… mmmi-mi-mi-..." Rio stuttered, sighing a bit in disappointment.

"Don't give up, Rio. You're near the halfway mark, you got this," Jane encouraged.

"I… I… mi-mi-mi-mis… mis… mis~."

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon. You almost got it," Erik said, before Rio tried once more, only to sigh in defeat before signing 'Do you have any idea how hard it is to speak? I can't seem to do it like you guys can so easily.'

"You'll get better with practice, don't worry about it. In the meantime, this calls for a break from teaching. ...Do you wanna go to the zoo?"

'Can I bring my best friend?' Rio signed, with Erik giving a confused look to her, but Jane knew who Rio meant.

"Of course you can bring it."

'Her. And thank you,' Rio corrected and thanked, the trio getting ready to go out.

* * *

Later, the trio arrived at the NY Zoo, Rio walking on two legs, and occasionally striking up conversation with the animals.

"Oh hey Rio… can I ask you something?" Jane began.

'Sure' she signed.

"Do you know when your birthday is?"

'My birthday? Well... I would say June 20th.'

"That's tomorrow," Erik realized, "Maybe we should get ready to celebrate. Is there anything in particular you want?"

Rio thought about it for a moment before going "Mmm-mmm" as she shook her head.

"...I'll think of something," Jane said as Rio saw a cage section full of chimpanzees.

"Ooh, ooh. Oh, oh," Rio responded, sounding like a monkey, as she signed 'Can I go see the chimps?'

"Sure. But stay close, okay?"

Rio nodded before walking over and watching them. They blinked at her and made some sounds to her, with Rio actually responding to them, making similar sounds as she actually climbed on the cage walls to get a better view.

"Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh. AH, AH, AH, AH!" Rio screeched to the chimps who screeched back at her while jumping up and down as well as all over their play area, leaving Erik and Jane both confused and intrigued by her actions.

"It seems she can also communicate with animals," Erik pointed out.

"That isn't surprising, considering that they basically are animals, just in human form," Jane responded, "Not in the offensive way, of course."

Rio ended the conversation and actually began to use her hands and arms to walk, smiling at Erik and Jane when Jane noticed something.

"Hey, where'd you get that ring?" Jane inquired.

Rio stopped walking and looked to the amethyst toe ring she had on. She flipped right side up, and tried to hide a sad look, 'It was… my mother's. ...It's... The last thing she gave me... before… you know.'

"Oh… I'm, I'm very sorry to bring that up."

'It's fine. You didn't know.' she assured, turning away to let out a tear.

"Hey… come here."

Jane turned Rio around before she hugged her, Rio returning it as she let a couple more tears fall down.

"It's ok. If you cry… it proves you're strong…" Jane told Rio, "It proves that you're ready to move on. It'll help you feel better afterwards."

Rio just sniffled before nodding and they let go of the hug and she signed 'Thank you, Jane. I'm glad that you're my friend.'

"...So am I," Jane giggled as they touched foreheads.

'You… kind of… remind me of my mom… just a little…' Rio signed.

"I bet she was very nice to you."

'Yes, she was.'

Rio just sniffled as they let go of their hug before signing 'What else can we do today?'

"Well… perhaps we can go back to the house and continue our lesson," Jane figured until they heard a loud bang noise, and they ran over to the source of the ruckus.

They looked to see a hostile gorilla roaring and running through the zoo, flailing its arms around as the people were running away from it. The trio's eyes widened at the sight before Rio signed 'Something's wrong with him. I have to tame Kong.'

"Are you crazy? That thing will knock you out and break you in half!" Erik responded.

"Erik, let her do what she has to do. I think she knows what she's doing," Jane told him, Erik sighing before Rio got down on all fours and ran over to the gorilla and then managed to stop a yard away from it.

"Hey, isn't that the animal girl from Time Square?" one of the people pointed out, recognizing Rio as she heard what the people were saying.

"Yea, what's she doing here?" another person asked.

"How does she expect to stop a rampaging gorilla?" a third person asked, Rio deciding not to let the words of the people bother her.

"Oh, oh. Oh oh ah ah, ah, oh," Rio screeched at the gorilla, who grunted the same sounds back at her, in a more gutteral tone, "Ah, ah, ah. Ah ah oh oh, ah."

"What's going on?" one of the people asked, confused as to what is going on.

"I dunno. They could be talking to each other about stopping the attack," another person guessed when the gorilla roared and pounded its chest, "Maybe not?"

"AH!" Rio shouted as she dodged swiftly out of the way of the gorilla's arms as it pounded the ground before Rio jumped up at the gorilla and tried to hold it, subdue it from behind, only to get grabbed by the gorilla and thrown off his back.

"Oh… this could take a while," Erik winced as Rio got back up and tried to follow the gorilla before they started grabbing each other, trying to knock each other down like wrestlers.

Rio punched the gorilla in the face and on the head, trying to take it down and then was able to as the ape was now across the ground, unconscious. As the zookeepers prepared to take it away, the people started cheering for Rio, making Rio look confused and shocked for a moment before she smiled and then raised her arms into the air, screaming like an ape which got the people to cheer for her more.

"Amazing. It looks like she's gotten over her fear of people," Jane smiled as Rio got up on her two feet and walked over to her and Erik.

"Congrats, Rio. You're now loved by the people," Erik smiled as Rio returned to them.

'Thanks. Now that the humans see me… I'm not so scared anymore,' Rio signed with a smile, making Jane smile as they walked back to their apartment.

* * *

Meanwhile, Loki was hiding in a tree near the zoo watching the whole thing.

"Curses, that Feralian girl did it again," Loki cursed to himself, "And to think I thought the gorilla would be enough to take her out."

"Even with your magic, you can't seem to defeat her," he heard Wulof scoff as he turned to see him, sitting on a tree near him, "How could you not defeat her?"

"You couldn't either, so don't ask me."

"Whatever. How are we gonna defeat her and your brother?" Wulof asked, making Loki think for a moment before it looked like an idea came to him.

"I think I know just what to do." he said with an evil smirk as he and Wulof jumped down off the trees.

* * *

Later the next day, Rio had just blew out the candles on her birthday cake, Jane and Erik clapping for her as she smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Rio," Jane smiled, Rio smiling in response as she started digging into her cake, enjoying it.

"So you ready to open your presents?" Erik asked, Rio signing 'Of course, I am.'

With that, Rio opened up her first present by ripping the wrapping paper off with her mouth, revealing it to be a white unicorn plushie. Rio gawked and hugged the plushie with a big smile on her face while signing 'This is so cute, I love it!'.

"Glad you do." Jane responded as Rio opened up another one, this one being a teddy bear. Rio giggled as she threw the teddy bear into the air and then caught it.

Rio then picked up a short rectangle shaped present, opening it to find a DVD of The Lion King. She smiled in response as she signed 'Heard this movie was great; always wanted to see it. I've seen this on posters in Times Square.'

"I think you will like it. Now we have one more present for you, or rather I have it. First of all, do you notice that your scarf is not on?" Jane pointed out as Rio felt around her neck before looking to see that she, indeed, did not have her scarf on and almost began to panic, "Don't worry, I got just the surprise for you."

Jane then walked to a closet and pulled out what looked like Rio's blanket, but something was different about it.

"Look at what I did with your scarf and blanket," Jane informed as she showed that the animals of the scarf were on her blanket. The elephant was in the center, the cat and bat were placed on the bottom left and right respectively, the snake and unicorn were near the top, and the rabbit was on top of the elephant's back, almost like it was riding it, "I decided to take your scarf and blanket and stitch them together to make something I just knew you would love. Oh and here's the best part…" As she said that, as she tied it around Rio's neck, "...You can wear it like a cape."

'...I... I don't know what to say,' she signed with one tear dropping from her eye, 'I… I really do love it. Thank you, Jane.' As she signed her thanks, she stood up and gave Jane a hug, to which Jame returned before Erik decided to join in, making it a group hug. They all laughed before letting go.

"Well… I think it's time we hit the hay," Erik yawned before walking to the bedroom to sleep on the chair.

"Yeah, let's go to bed. G'night, Rio. Happy Birthday," Jane replied as Rio smiled at her before signing '...Thank you… for everything that you and Erik have done for me.', "You're welcome."

With that, Jane went to her bedroom as well before Rio untied her new cape and sprawled over to the couch before moving on it like a cat and then laying down with the cape over her like it was her blanket. She smiled as she shut her eyes before she tossed and turned herself to make herself feel comfortable.

* * *

 ***An explosion sound can be heard***

 **TB: Aw, great, this chapter blew up the D'AWW-o-Meter!**

 **KKD: Dang it. *holds helmet***

 **TB: But in one way that's a good thing. Because again, Rio's adorable badassness stole the show here.**

 **KKD: Right.**

 **TB: But I will admit though, her fighting an enraged, mind controlled gorilla in this chapter was pretty cool to see too.**

 **KKD: Yea.**

 **TB: Do you have anything else to say about this before we move on?**

 **KKD: ...Not really.**

 **TB: Alright then, let's head out. Until next time, this has been the Lone Rider…**

 **KKD: and the Crossover King...**

 **TB: ...And we are out.**

 **KKD: Jaa ne!**

 **TB: SEIYAA!**


	4. Chapter 4

**TB: Here it is. The final chapter of Dazel.**

 **KKD: Took us long enough.**

 **TB: What will be in store for our badass adorable animal girl? Well, let's not waste any time.**

 **KKD: And let's hope I don't die from adorableness since the 'D'AWW-o-Meter' exploded.**

 **TB: Probably not. Anyway, as usual, cue Disclaimers.**

 **DISCLAIMERS: No one owns anything here related to Marvel or it's superheroes, except for the original characters and concepts within. The rest belong to Marvel, Disney, etc.**

* * *

The next morning after her birthday, Rio slowly began to stir, nuzzling her blanket a tiny bit as she did so. She opened her eyes and yawned before she tied the blanket around her neck, making it her cape again. She smiled at how this looked before she got down on all fours and walked over to the kitchen to get herself some breakfast.

However, before she did much of anything, she noticed that neither Jane nor Erik were anywhere in the kitchen. The black haired girl looked around nervously, trying to find where they were around the apartment complex, but not finding them anywhere. She would try calling them, but did not know how to speak, so she didn't really know what to do. That was, however, until she found a piece of paper left in front of the entrance to the room. Curious, she approached the paper and picked it up, folding it open to read it. As she read it, her eyes widened with shock and horror.

'To Dear Rio, Loki has told me about your new friends. So we decided to take them on a little trip. Don't worry, they're safe… for now. If you want to insure their safety, come meet me and Loki over by Central Park at 9:30 pm, and bring his brother with you. From, Wulof,' the letter read, leaving Rio hesitant. She knew she had no way of finding Thor, finding her way to the location, or being there when the letter told her to be there.

She began huffing and puffing, trying to figure out how to get in contact with Thor, running her fingers through her hair. She then noticed something lying on the ground, and there was another piece of paper by it. Rio slowly walked over and saw the note on this one.

'Dear Rio, we had a small post-birthday surprise planned out. If Nick Fury has plans to take you in, leaving you in a new place, you have this so that we could remain in touch with each other. I just want you to know that it has been really fun taking care of you and teaching you how to be more human. I hope that your future is very bright. Sincerely, Jane Foster,' the note read, Rio giving a small smile in response before looking at the item that the note came with it.

The item was a small, blue, circular shaped object, with the symbol of a hawk inside of a circle in the back of it, indicating that it was a S.H.I.E.L.D. communicator. She looked at it and then turned her gaze to a computer, beginning to ponder how it would work.

After pressing random buttons, and even hitting the side of the computer a little, a camera screen managed to pop up, showing Nick Fury.

-Rio? Why are you calling? Is something wrong?- he asked, concerned as Rio nodded in response before pulling up the note that Wulof left, -Well… this sounds like a trap, but if it's true then you need to get ready. Prepare yourself for anything that they might throw at you.-

'I will. But… where's hammer man? I'm kind of going to need him...' Rio signed.

-I didn't really get most of that, but it sounds like you're concerned for Thor, right?- Fury inquired, with Rio nodding and attempting to sign that she'd need his help, but it once again flew over Fury's head.

Rio gave an annoyed groan at this point before pointing to the mentioning of Thor in Wulof's note.

-I am fully aware that you need his help. Don't worry, I'll get into contact with him. Meet him on the roof of the building you are currently in right now.-

Rio nodded, before she slowly approached the door, but paused upon reaching it, slowly looking at the room around her. She had grown to love this place, it was… her home away from her home, which was the fort. She then grew a look of determination before turning to open the door.

* * *

Rio sat upon the roof for a moment, starting to twiddle her thumbs while humming to herself while waiting. She then saw lightning strike down a few feet away from her, and there Thor was.

"I heard from Fury, you informed him that Jane and Selvig had been captured, is that correct?" Thor inquired, Rio nodding in response before she walked up to him and then looked up at him to show him the note, which Thor read and then crumpled it up in frustration, "Damn that Loki, stooping to this level... well then, I suggest we get ourselves ready for the time."

'...You and him are brothers… why do you act like enemies?' Rio signed, curious.

"...I may not understand your gestures, but I can see that you're curious. You… want to know why Loki and I are enemies… even though we're brothers?"

Rio nodded, causing Thor to sigh before he put his hammer down.

"Well... We are not biological brothers, but Loki was treated like family after my father, Odin, took him in. We've been brothers ever since, even if he was a bit of a jester, he always meant well whenever we went on missions. But eventually, he learned of his true heritage, which was of a race we fought known as the Frost Giants, and it drove him mad. To this day, I still wish things could go back to the way they were, but Loki keeps going against Asgard, his schemes becoming more elaborate, his intelligence more cunning, and his apparent hatred of me stronger."

Rio ended up with a sorrowful expression on her face as she looked up at Thor. She slowly stood herself up, revealing that she was slightly smaller than Thor.

"Mmm, mmm," Rio grunted before standing on her tippy toes a bit to give him a hug, allowing Thor to smile and return the embrace given to him.

"Your kindness isn't necessary… but I do appreciate it," Thor admitted, Rio smiling at him before letting go of the hug.

The girl just giggled a little bit, as Thor grabbed his hammer and lifted it up in the air to teleport both of them to a place where they can get ready.

* * *

Meanwhile, Loki and Wulof were waiting at the center of the park, currently guarding a tied up Jane & Erik.

"My brother is going to come soon… and when he does, he'll will know who the superior being is." Loki chuckled.

"Hey, werewolf," Jane shouted, getting Wulof's attention, "There's something I gotta know. What is your deal against Rio? She's just an innocent kid, and you antagonize her like she's a victim."

"That's because she _is_ a victim! A victim of her own naivety and ignorance of what happened to her clan and her island! Even before it happened, we were natural enemies, and it's because her ancestor's that I am the last of my kind. When her island was destroyed, I relished in her pain and was more than happy to assist Loki in exposing her to the world. But now that these humans don't fear her or cast her out anymore, we will be getting rid of her." Wulof told her, "And when I'm done with Rio… I will enjoy breaking you two."

"...You sick son of a bitch," Jane growled, "You relish in the pain of others… you're no different than Loki."

"I'm flattered by that, actually," Loki smirked with a chuckle, "And I'll be more than happy to join in on Wulof's little torture fest after we finish off my brother and that bothersome animal.

"...Rio and Thor will stop you two," Erik added with a scowl, "They're smarter than you think they are."

"Oh… we'll be the judge of that." Wulof replied as he walked back next to Loki.

* * *

Later that night, Rio and Thor teleported to the park, away from where Loki and Wulof are guarding their friends. They walked much more slowly than Thor was used to, Rio back on all fours, crawling very slowly before they peeked out to see the two in front of Jane and Erik.

"So… what do you suggest we do?" Thor asked, Rio activating her unicorn powers, making her horn glow to send out a wave of smoke.

With Loki, he and Wulof saw the smoke, but saw it was whiter.

"A fog? Did the weather get any reports of fog?" Loki asked confused.

"Don't ask me, I don't trust human weather reporters," Wulof answered as the smoke got thicker and he sniffed it, "Wait a minute… I smell them... But their scent is covered by this... smoke."

Meanwhile, Rio and Thor managed to untie Jane and Erik, and even give them a brief embrace before telling them to go. Then, Thor rushed at Loki hammer first, knocking him out of the fog. As the fog cleared up, Wulof looked around and sniffed the air before looking to see Rio standing on her own two legs right in front of him.

"Well well well… look at what dragged its way here, you piece of zygote trash," Wulof smirked, Rio growling and hissing in response, "Let's settle this, you and I, right now."

Rio roared in agreement before activating her cat powers and pounced on Wulof. She began to roll him around in the dirt, both of them punching each other as Jane and Erik were a safe distance away watching this fight as well as the one between Thor and Loki.

Wulof was able to get up and pin Rio to the ground, but she quickly retaliated with her elephant strength, pushing him off and knocking him into a nearby tree.

"THAT'S IT!" Wulof roared as he pulled out his AK-47 and fired at Rio.

In response, the rabbit on her cape glowed, giving her rabbit ears and allowing her to jump up and evade all of the shots, before diving head first towards Wulof, tackling him and knocking the AK out of his hands. She then returned to using her cat powers to claw at Wulof, scratching above his snout.

'Give up?' Rio gestured.

"Never, you dumb human-animal-abomination!" Wulof shouted, aiming his pistol at Rio, before he changed aim to Jane and Erik.

Loki quickly moved, using his staff to knock Thor aside and quickly move to hold Jane and Erik in place.

"You fiend!" Thor shouted, about to go after Loki but Wulof knocked him aside with a pistol whip so hard that it sent him through a few trees, knocking them down.

'Hammer man!' Rio gestured, as she looked at Wulof and Loki.

"Let us go…" Jane grunted, attempting to get free from what Loki was doing to keep her and Erik in place.

"I will… but only if that girl surrenders. Drop your silly little cape, stop playing hero and get down on your knees," Wulof demanded.

Rio was confused about what to do, fearing that if she makes a wrong move, then her friends are goners. She was almost frozen in place until Thor managed to get back up and stun Wulof with a thunder shock before Rio dashed forward, using her cat ability to toss Loki aside and throw his staff away from him. She quickly ran over and hugged both Jane and Erik, some tears dripping down from her eyes, just happy that they're saved.

"Rio… you're amazing… it's like a dazel that you do what you do," Jane smiled.

Hearing Jane's compliment gave Rio an idea before she focused back on Loki, who picked his staff back up. Loki then ran towards her while swinging his staff around, but Rio managed to grab it again, leading them at a stand still.

"Get your filthy hands off of me, you stupid animal!" Loki shouted, Rio standing up straight in response as she was still holding. She then inhaled a bit before…

"NO!" Rio suddenly shouted, everyone around her looking at her in shock before Rio shoved Loki to the ground and beat him up.

As she repeatedly shouted 'NO!', she kept walking forward as she punched and kicked Loki, making sure he didn't get up before using her elephant strength to give him a strong uppercut, launching him skyward. After he landed back first on the ground, she turned to Wulof and glared at him, the humanoid wolf still in shock at the fact that Rio actually spoke.

"W-What?! How~?" Wulof gawked, Rio stepping forward to make her dominance known.

"...GO! Do NOT… come back!" Rio shouted at the wolf, who cowered and ran away, tail between his legs, leaving the others in disbelief that Rio actually spoke for the first time.

Rio then got back down on all fours before walking over to Jane and Erik and signing 'Are you two okay?'.

"We're… fine…" Erik informed, a bit stunned that Rio was able to speak.

Jane began to giggle and picked Rio up, the black haired girl a bit surprised by this, but she took it in stride, Jane acting like a parent who just heard their little baby speak for the first time.

"I can't believe that you actually spoke! The Feralians have never formed verbal communication, until now," Jane gawked in amazement as Rio smiled in response before Jane put her down on her two feet.

Rio then pulled Jane closer, at first looking like they were gonna touch foreheads, but instead leaned closer to Jane's ear and put her other hand on Jane's shoulder.

"...Thank you… Jane… for… believing… in Rio." she verbally told Jane, who just smiled in acceptance before nodding and letting out a small tear.

"...You're very welcome." Jane smiled as Rio walked over to Erik and he extended his hand out to her.

"That was excellent, Rio. You've exceeded our expectations, and managed to be an amazing hero," Erik said, Rio looking at his hand before accepting it and shaking it before leaning in talk to him.

"...You're… welcome… Erik," Rio smiled, before she let go and walked over to Thor, "Hammer man… good person… *sighs through nose* like Jane."

Thor just smiled and then put his hand on her shoulder as a sign of respect before noticing a blue aura fading away, making Thor realize that Loki has disappeared.

* * *

Later, Rio packed up her things from her fort and climbed out to meet up with Fury, who was standing outside along with Thor, Jane and Erik.

"Rio, I've already discussed with Thor here about what plans I have for you. I figure you oughta know by now," Fury said, Rio beginning to sign in response to him.

"She says she does. But…" Jane began, before she looked back at Rio, "...she's going to miss her fort… and me and Erik."

"Rio… miss fort… and friends…" she stated aloud, trying not to cry, "Rio… emotional…"

"What about that communicator that Dr. Foster gave you? You can still keep in touch with them, and… why the hell not, even visit your fort from time to time if you please," Fury assured, Rio wiping away some tears before smiling in response

"I can look after it for you," Jane smiled, making Rio smile and go over to hug her, with Erik joining in for a short while, the trio all smiling happily.

After her embrace, she walked over to Fury and Thor before signing him a question.

"She's asking what do you have in mind for her," Erik translated to Fury.

"Well, my idea is to gather youths with unique abilities to form a team. And you surpass every definition of the term unique," Fury stated.

"...True," Rio nodded.

"So… are you up for the Young Avengers Project?"

Rio thought about it for a moment before looking at Thor, who nodded at her, allowing Rio to look more determined.

"...Yes." Rio answered.

"So… did you have an idea for a hero name?" Jane inquired curiously.

"...Dazel. Jane said… Rio is dazel… so… Rio will be... Dazel." Rio informed, a smile forming on her face.

* * *

 **TB: Ho…**

 **KKD: ...lee…**

 **TB/KKD: Moly!**

 **TB: Rio is actually speaking!**

 **KKD: ...I don't know whether to be shocked or be awing out of how awesome or adorable that is.**

 **TB: I'd go with being in awe.**

 **KKD: Out of awesomeness or adorableness? Because if the latter, I'd die from the lack of a 'D'AWW-O-Meter' to keep it in check.**

 **TB: A little bit of both. Though in all seriousness, it was really great to hear her speak for the first time. And to those who are reading, that scene is, indeed, a reference to Caesar shouting 'NO!' in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.**

 **KKD: No joke on that either.**

 **TB: I thought it would be effective and powerful to sort of write it the same way as that scene. Before we move on, I just wanna give some thanks to Pikatwig for allowing us to use his character to write and even giving some pointers of his own.**

 **KKD: Yea. See, Dazel was his idea, and while we originally wanted to write it with him, we just got too anxious and decided to just check and see if we can move on with it with his supervision, and the verdict… well… just look at the story as a whole.**

 **TB: I think it turned out rather well. Though, sorry about the lack of a Stan Lee cameo.**

 **KKD: Yea, I tried my best for us to get Stan Lee to cameo in as many of these as we could, and if we could, we could've slipped him into a post-story moment, but it's a bit much just to write an epilogue moment just to slip Stan in there, as much as we like the guy.**

 **TB: There's always the next story. So, I don't really think we need to establish favorite parts, because we, along with the readers, probably already know what they are.**

 **KKD: For the most part, it was the battle scene along with Rio finally speaking up.**

 **TB: Same here. Now that another Marvel story is done, and we're getting close to the Young Avengers, this has been the Lone Rider, TokuBrony…**

 **KKD: …the Crossover King, KKD Silver…**

 **TB: And we are proud to say out loud…**

 **TB/KKD: EXCELSIOR!**


End file.
